The invention relates to a tap head for beverage containers or barrels including a tap head plunger capable of being actuated by a hand lever, a beverage connection, a connection for a gaseous pressure medium, a container connection, and a relief valve being connected to the interior of the tap head.
Tap heads of this type serve in known manner for the removal of beverages from beverage containers or beverage barrels, such as beer barrels. For this purpose, the tap head with the said connections is connected to the flange of a fitting with the hand lever raised. The fitting represents the container connection located in a container opening, which is equipped with a particular, known valve. By pulling down the hand lever of the tap head and thus by actuating the tap head plunger, a plunger flange located on this plunger is pressed against a housing gasket and simultaneously the valve of the fitting is opened, so that a gastight connection is guaranteed. Pressurized gas flows through the interior around the tap head plunger into the container and conveys the beverage through a central pipe to the beverage connection and from there by way of a line to the actual bar dispenser.
After emptying the container, the hand lever of the tap head is tilted upwards, so that the compression of the housing gasket is discontinued and the fitting in the housing barrel is again closed.
One considerable problem consists in that particularly at a higher work pressure in the interior of the tap head, particularly in the lower cavity around the tap head plunger, a gas pressure is maintained which may reach up to approximately 6 bars. Due to this, the housing gasket of the tap head is pressed against the flange of the fitting. The drawback consists in that the tap head can only be released from the flange by overcoming the adhesion produced by the gas pressure, which signifies not solely a considerable application of force, but also a certain danger for the operator.
The problem mentioned previously can be obviated at least partially in a tap head mentioned at the beginning, which is known from the document EP-A-0 432 650. The pressure relief valve is however in this case arranged pointing approximately radially outwards on the tap head housing, so that in its direction of movement, the valve plunger located in the valve housing extends substantially at right angles to the direction of movement of the tap head plunger. The pressure relief valve serves for the ventilation of the storage container and must be actuated in each case manually, for example by means of a hand lever. If the storage container is to be ventilated, the keg fitting must be opened. It is moreover also conceivable, in the closed state, by manually actuating the pressure relief valve, to ventilate solely the interior of the tap head housing.